{"id":21504,"date":"2026-04-21T12:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/the-download-human-noise-la-subway-upgrade\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T12:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:36:09","slug":"the-download-human-noise-la-subway-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/the-download-human-noise-la-subway-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"The Download: turning down human noise, and LA\u2019s stunning subway upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This is today\u2019s edition of <\/em>The Download<\/em><\/a>, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what\u2019s going on in the world of technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

The noise we make is hurting animals. Can we learn to shut up?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As human society has expanded, animals have started struggling to hear one another. For many birds, the noise has grown so loud that they\u2019ve begun to sing with faster trills. Now, their mating calls aren\u2019t as effective.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The growing hubbub can also increase bird-on-bird conflict, and entire species that can\u2019t handle urban clamor simply leave town for good. But there are technological solutions to the noises hurting animals\u2014and they could help humans, too.<\/p>\n

Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Clive Thompson<\/em><\/p>\n

Los Angeles is finally going underground<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In May, a new subway segment will connect downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. What today can be an hours-long drive through a busy, museum-\u00adpacked stretch of the city will be, if all goes well, a 25-minute train ride.<\/p>\n

The existence of subway stops in this part of town\u2014known as Miracle Mile\u2014is a technological triumph over geography and geology. Find out why<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Adam Rogers<\/em><\/p>\n

Both of these stories are from the next issue of our print magazine, which is all about nature. <\/strong>Subscribe now<\/strong><\/a> to read it when it lands tomorrow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The must-reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve combed the internet to find you today\u2019s most fun\/important\/scary\/fascinating stories about technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

1 Apple\u2019s Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO
<\/strong>Hardware chief John Ternus will take over from him in September. (CNN<\/a>)
+ Ternus\u2019 defining challenge may be fixing Apple\u2019s AI strategy.<\/em> (CNBC<\/a>)
+ How does Cook compare with Apple\u2019s other CEOs through the years?<\/em> (NYT<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

2 Anthropic\u2019s new Amazon deal escalates the compute war with OpenAI<\/strong>
Anthropic will spend more than $100 billion on Amazon compute.(Axios<\/a> $)
+ OpenAI touted its compute advantage over Anthropic two weeks ago.<\/em> (Bloomberg<\/a> $)
+ Here\u2019s why the AI compute explosion has only just begun. <\/em>(MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 Silicon Valley is trying to get into the news business<\/strong>
The latest addition is Andreessen Horowitz\u2019s MTS. (The Information<\/a> $)
+ OpenAI recently bought a business talk show.<\/em> (NPR<\/a>)
+ They join Elon Musk\u2019s X and a new Peter Thiel-backed startup. <\/em>(Axios<\/a>)<\/p>\n

4 The banking industry is scrambling to get access to Anthropic\u2019s Mythos
<\/strong>As regulators review the risks to financial services. (Reuters<\/a> $)+ Germany\u2019s central bank has called for wider access to Mythos. <\/em>(Bloomberg<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

5 War memes are turning conflict into content
<\/strong>Fueled by recommendation systems designed to keep you hooked. (Wired<\/a> $)
+ AI is turning the Iran conflict into theater.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

6 AI is boosting worker productivity, but not their paychecks
<\/strong>Employees aren\u2019t financially benefiting from their extra efficiency. (Quartz<\/a>)
+ New data sheds light on the current state of AI.<\/em> (MIT Technology Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n

7 Amazon\u2019s ambition to rival Starlink has hit a setback
<\/strong>After a Blue Origin rocket was grounded.<\/em> (FT<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

8 Jeff Bezos\u2019s AI lab has neared a $38 billion valuation
<\/strong>In an imminent $10 billion fundraising deal from investors. (FT<\/a> $)
+ The startup focuses on AI for engineering \u200cand \u2060manufacturing.<\/em> (Reuters<\/a> $)<\/p>\n

9 Scientific AI agents have got their own social network<\/strong>
Where they share, debate, and discuss research papers. (Nature<\/a>)<\/p>\n

10 A Mars rover has discovered new \u201corigin-of-life\u201d molecules<\/strong>
They suggest Mars wasn\u2019t always a lifeless red desert. (Gizmodo<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\n

Quote of the day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a transformational Apple CEO that\u2019s always had a steady hand at the wheel. I think that will be his legacy. He had massive shoes to step into, and he was the \u200bright person for the job. That\u2019s the \u200bway he\u2019ll be remembered.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One More Thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
MIKE MCQUADE<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n


<\/strong>The race to save our online lives from a digital dark age<\/strong><\/h4>\n

There is more stuff being created now than at any time in history, but our data is more fragile than ever. One day in the future, YouTube\u2019s videos may permanently disappear. Facebook\u2014and your uncle\u2019s holiday posts\u2014will vanish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For many archivists, alarm bells are ringing. Across the world, they\u2019re scraping up defunct websites, saving at-risk data collections, and developing data storage technologies that could last thousands of years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their work raises complex questions. What is important to us? How do we decide what to keep\u2014and what do we let go? Read our story on the thorny problems of digital preservation<\/a>.<\/p>\n


<\/strong>\u2014Niall Firth<\/em><\/p>\n

We can still have nice things<\/strong><\/p>\n

A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? <\/em>Drop me a line<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

+ Apple\u2019s forgotten co-founder recently shared his story<\/a> of the company\u2019s early days.
+ Witness a rare underwater volcanic eruption<\/a> in the Solomon Islands.
+ Learn\u00a0what makes Shakespeare\u2019s writing so effective<\/a> in this masterful analysis.
+ An Artemis II astronaut shared a stunning iPhone video<\/a> showing Earth disappear behind the Moon at 8x zoom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is today\u2019s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}